Foodchain, Spider and Fly
Location: Queensland. Australia
October 29, 2011 9:58 pm
Hi guys,
Thought you might like this picture for your food chain pages. A tiny immature Dolomedes Instabilis has caught itself an Austrosciapus connexus, one of the Long Legged Flys. The fly is about 6mm long.
Signature: Aussietrev
Water Spider eats Long Legged Fly
Hi Trevor,
We greatly appreciate that you take the time to identify your creatures prior to submitting photos, which makes posting your submissions so easy. According to the Find a Spider Guide for the Spiders of Southern Queensland website, Dolomedes instabilis is commonly called a Water Spider and their habitat is “On the surface of still-water ponds; this spider has the ability to run on water surfaces and to form underwater retreats in large air bubbles, although some pisaurids make their webs in green leaves or small twigs of shrubs and may never have occasion to ‘walk on water.’” The Brisbane Insect website has some wonderful photos and indicates the common name is Fishing Spider like its North American relatives. The Brisbane Insect website also indicates the common name of Austrosciapus connexus is the Green Long Legged Fly.
1
Orb Weaver catches Caterpillar in her web and encases it in silk.
Location: Cheney Kansas
October 17, 2011 8:16 pm
I rescued this spider at work from being chopped up by my weed wacker. I took it home and set it free in the garden.
The next day I searched the garden to see if she would cast her web in my yard . I found her Web and she had already caught several moths and was in the process of taking care of a White Lined Sphinx Caterpillar.
I’ve included several photos and you can really see in detail how she uses her spinneret to encase her future meal.
Signature: Chris Harris
Banded Orbweaver
Hi Chris,
Thanks so much for sending us your wonderful photos of a Banded Orbweaver eating a White Lined Sphinx Caterpillar.
Banded Orbweaver eats White Lined Sphinx Caterpillar
We don’t believe caterpillars are a typical prey for Orbweavers that tend to snare flying or hopping insects.
Banded Orbweaver eats White Lined Sphinx
1
Ceratomia catalpae parasitized by Apanteles congregatus
Location: Northeast Tennessee
Subject: Ceratomia catalpae parasitized by Apanteles congregatus
Location: Northeast Tennessee
October 10, 2011 9:02 pm
Or…
Catalpa Sphinx caterpillar with eggs from a parasitic Braconid wasp.
I took these at my grandparents’ house last weekend.
There was a congregation of about 6 caterpillars on the leaves of one branch of their Catawba tree. They were not moving and many had these eggs on them. Some were hanging (as if about to pupate, maybe?). Sorry they’re so blurry, my camera is really crappy:)
Love your site!
Signature: Easily Fascinated Strikes Again
Parasitized Catalpa Sphinx
Dear Easily Fascinated Strikes Again,
This is a very interesting sighting, though not really rare. We wish your photos were clearer, but we are posting the best of them anyways. Thanks so much for your concise personal observations.
Prey of the Praying Mantis
Location: Biggsville, Il.
October 9, 2011 7:07 am
I was going to post this to your general comment site but there wasn’t any place for a picture. I took this Tues. Oct. 4th. I assume this was the last Hummingbird in the garden. I have had quite a few Praying Mantises in the garden this year and many butterflies fell prey to them but when I saw this Hummingbird in it’s grasp I was truly amazed. I’d heard stories but only thought they were campfire stories much like a Hummingbird flying south on a gooses back.
Signature: Randy Anderson
Preying Mantis eats Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Dear Randy,
We are truly honored that you have submitted your amazing Food Chain images to our website. We would strongly urge you to post a comment to our posting in the event that anyone out there in cyberspace is interested in using your images for some purpose in the future. We cannot stop internet piracy and we realize there are many folks with questionable ethics that might try to steal your images. As least we do not post the high resolution images and people are only able to easily grab the thumbnails. While we are certain that your photos may horrify some of our sensitive readers because Hummingbirds are so beloved, they also represent the possibilities that occur in nature. Perhaps the Hummingbird was old or feeble. A large female Preying Mantis is a formidable hunter and her raptorial front legs have a strong grasp. We also have an image buried in our archives of a Golden Orbweaver that captured and fed upon a Hummingbird. Thanks again for allowing us to share your images with our readership.
Preying Mantis eats Ruby Throated Hummingbird
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Hanging Thief Robberfly with Prey
Location: Cheney Kansas
September 23, 2011 4:09 pm
I’ve been trying to get a photo of this bug for about three weeks…It is normally very evasive and won’t land anywhere near my camera.
Today it landed in front of me and let me get a photo of it.
A few minutes later it caught a bee and hung from a small redbud tree ,not only letting me take photos but also touching it get a better pic.
From looking at a Bug site it appears to be a Hanging Thief Robberfly.
Signature: Chris Harris
Hanging Thief and Prey
Hi Chris,
Thanks so much for sending us your wonderful photos of a Hanging Thief with its prey. Though it is a member of the genus Diogmites, we are uncertain of the species.
Hanging Thief
1
Crab Spider? eating a skipper?
Location: Charleston, SC
September 19, 2011 12:15 pm
This was photographed just outside of Charleston, SC in a monastery called Mepkin Abbey. I found these two in small purple flowers growing along one of their many paths.
Signature: Steven
Crab Spider Eats Skipper
Hi Steven,
Your photo of a Crab Spider in the family Thomisidae feeding on a Skipper in the family Hesperiidae is an excellent addition to our Food Chain tag. This is at least the fourth entry we have received documenting this particular predator/prey combination. Crab Spiders are hunting spiders that do not spin a web, and several species are typically found hiding well camouflaged in blossoms awaiting hapless pollinating insects including Skippers. Skippers are butterflies that are typically considered to be a transitional family between butterflies and moths, and they get their common name from their quick, darting flight.
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Location: Roanoke Virginia
August 29, 2011
Daniel,
My Cicada pic made it onto the local CBS news! Thanks for publishing it as that is how the reporter found it!
I now have some pics of a beautiful Garden spider. So huge and intimidating. He has a cicada all wrapped up for later. 
And could “crop 1 Garden Spider 011″ be her mate? He was WAY smaller but I know males often are. He was in the same web.
Best wishes!
Paul Mays
aka neanderpaul
- Golden Orbweaver eats Cicada
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the update and the great news about your previous photo. We will be creating a new posting for your Golden Orbweaver images.
Golden Orbweaver
While both of your spiders are Orbweavers, the large female Golden Orbweaver, Argiope aurantia, is a different species than the smaller spider which we believe is an Orchard Spider,Leucauge venusta.
Orchard Spider
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